Method of measuring adaptive immunity

Abstract

A method of measuring immunocompetence is described. This method provides a means for assessing the effects of diseases or conditions that compromise the immune system and of therapies aimed to reconstitute it. This method is based on quantifying T-cell diversity by calculating the number of diverse T-cell receptor (TCR) beta chain variable regions from blood cells.

What is claimed: 
     
       1. A method of providing diagnostic assessment of immunocompetence in a solid organ transplant recipient undergoing immune suppressive therapy, comprising:
 (a) identifying a T cell repertoire in the recipient in vitro; 
 (b) determining the diversity of said T cell repertoire identified in step
 (a) in a pre-transplant sample from the recipient; 
 
 (c) determining the diversity of said T cell repertoire identified in step
 (a) in a post-transplant sample from the recipient; 
 
 (d) comparing the diversities of said T cell repertoire in said pre- and post-transplant samples; 
 (e) determining that immune reconstitution is not occurring based on the comparison of the diversities of said T cell repertoire in the post-transplant sample and the pre-transplant sample; and 
 (f) actively modifying treatment to withdraw immunosuppressive therapy to the recipient. 
 
     
     
       2. A method of providing diagnostic assessment of immunocompetence in a solid organ transplant recipient undergoing immune suppressive therapy, comprising:
 (a) identifying T cell repertoire in the recipient in vitro; 
 (b) determining the diversity of said T cell repertoire identified in step
 (a) in a pre-transplant sample from the recipient; 
 
 (c) determining the diversity of said T cell repertoire identified in step
 (a) in a post-transplant sample from the recipient; 
 
 (d) comparing the diversities of said T cell repertoire in said pre- and post-transplant samples; 
 (e) determining that immune reconstitution is occurring based on the comparison of the diversities of said T cell repertoire in the posttransplant sample and the pre-transplant sample; and 
 (f) actively modifying treatment by reducing administration of immunoreconstitutive therapy to the recipient. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the diversity in the post-transplant sample comprises TCR CDR3 gene sequences with at least a 5-fold higher frequency compared to the TCR CDR3 gene sequence population in the pretransplant sample.